Meditation

 

I have found this to be an excellent guide to study the Word. The key to meditation is to ask questions. Many believers are not accustomed to this practice and have a habit of regurgitating information they have heard from someone else but giving the information no further thought. They have never learned to think. Asking questions causes us to think.

We begin with Matthew 5:1.

1. Write the passage:

Matt 5:1 And when He saw the multitudes, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him.

2. Ask Questions:

And-what does this word connect?

Seeing-what did He see?

Multitudes-where did they come from? Was it a crowd? What motivated them to come?

Why did seeing the multitudes prompt Him to go up on the mountain?

(Not that we will answer each of these questions but it tunes our Reticular Activation System).

What mountain did He go up on? Why did He go up?

After He sat down, His disciples came to him. Did the multitudes come or just the disciples? If only the disciples came, why didn’t the multitudes?

Compare your answer to this question with Matt. 7:28-8:1.

Did your answer change?

As you visualize this scene, what other questions come to mind? Write them down.

 

3. Do a word study:

What do each of the words in this verse mean?

Ask more questions (this activates your RAS).

And=but, it compares two things. It is a transition to something new. It is a particle, not a conjunction. What is the word transitioning?

Seeing=to know, perceive with the eyes, be aware of, consider, understand, saw their needs. When you look at someone, what do you see?

Multitude=large group.

Went up=because of the needs that He saw, He went to address them. It implies a motion on His part.

Mountain=lifts itself up above the plains. (Using the Reticular Activation System, think about this when you see a mountain when traveling or on vacation. Picture Him walking up).

 

4. Look up cross references:

Mark 9- and they brought the boy to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit through him into a convulsion.

Matt. 9-He saw Matthew the tax collector.

Mark-He saw a fig tree.

Matt. 4-He healed the multitudes (individuals).

Matt. 15-fed the multitudes (individually).

 

5. Paraphrase:

When Jesus considered the throng of people that came out to Him seeking to get their needs met, He went up on the mountain.

 

6. Personalize:

When I see a group of people, I realize that I can treat them as a group or I could take time to understand the needs of individuals in the group. Like Jesus, I need to take time to get alone with needy people to teach them.

When we memorize a text, we get it into our mind.

When we do a word study, we get it into our will.

When we personalize it, we get it into our emotions.

 

7. Picture it:

Drawing a picture or visualizing the entire scene as it unfolds will help to capture and feel it. Visualize Jesus with the multitudes and Him looking at just me. Even though He is ministering to many, He has time for me.

Visualize Him walking up to the base of a mountain. Visualize the multitudes. How many do you see? What are they doing, wearing and talking about? Do you see any children? Now visualize the disciples and watch as Jesus sits. How is He sitting? What are the disciples doing? Can you hear the questions they are formulating as they watch the scene unfold? There was a time that Jesus was in the temple, bent over to write on the ground. Do you think He did something like that here? Why or why not? Do you think His behaviors and mannerisms made the most of the situation?

What time of day was it? What were people feeling at that particular time? Were they hungry or sleepy, exhausted or moody? When you listen to people talking, what do you do? What do you think about? Are you tired, hungry etc.? How does that affect your ability to hear?

These are a small number of questions that can and should be asked whenever we encounter God’s Word. They help us to personalize God’s Word and draw it into our emotions after it is a part of our mind and will.

 

8. Application:

What do I see when I perceive a group of people? Do I see their needs or do I categorize them according to the way I see people?

If I were traveling with Jesus, how long would it take Him to see their health problems in a crowd? Why is it that I don’t ever see peoples needs or suffering? “Lord, I need to see as You see”.

The first word, ‘and’, brought this Scripture together with the previous where Jesus healed many and THEN they came out and He taught them. How often do I get involved in peoples’ physical needs? Do I use this as a springboard to teach them?

Now, try it on your own.

"Do not be anxious then, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'With what shall we clothe ourselves?' "For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you. "Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matt. 5:31-34

                                                                                                                                                               borrowed